For the past few years, most retailers have struggled. Of course, it’s easy to blame Amazon.com, but it is only one of many causes. At the same time, for us hedgies living in major cities with luxury malls, there is confusion about the problem itself—my mall is crowded and people are shopping. After having debated with friends endlessly on what the real root of Read More

I tend to travel a lot. No matter where I am, I try the local beer. If I like it, I often seek out the local brewer. You’d be amazed at how often you can get a brewery tour—at pretty much any hour of the day—any day of the week. If the owner or head brewer is proud of what he’s producing, he’s going Read More

For most of my life, tequila was something I gagged on at 4am, because some asshole thought it would be “fun to do shots.” Yet, throughout my many recent trips to Mexico, I experienced faint hints of what quality tequila tasted like. I quickly learned to avoid the mass produced commercial product out there and instead sampled small batch brands—often led forward by those Read More

While I was in Mexico, December the 12th was the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. If you want to learn more about the holiday, go to Wikipedia, but the key takeaway for me, was that Mexico effectively shuts down for a few days. That’s all fine and good, because despite multiple trips to Mexico, there was one thing that I’d never been able to Read More

It’s been a while since I’ve attended the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK:NYSE) annual meeting. Between the tedium of little kids asking questions about how to live life, to the feel-good nature of the thing, I simply got repulsed. Why do a bunch of hard-nosed capitalists choose to act like Ned Flanders for a weekend—in Omaha of all places? It’s illogical and completely artificial. Then, a Read More

So, I was sitting in the Plaza De Los Coches in Cartagena, Colombia. It was past midnight, but still 95 degrees with an asphyxiating humidity that I have yet to experience in Miami. Fortunately, I had a cold beer in hand and was surrounded by good friends. In any case, I was transfixed by the parade of drunken tourists, prostitutes and the awkwardly comical Read More

As many of you know, I live in Miami—what you probably don’t know, is that without the cocaine trade, Miami would still be a backwater like Fort Meyers—good weather, some interesting architecture, but not much modern development. Instead, Miami is the capital of Latin America. It got to that pinnacle through the activities of a motley band of Colombians—none more famous than Pablo Escobar. Read More

Let’s say that Cuba’s socialist utopia doesn’t quite appeal to you—shocking right? How do you escape? Well, actually, it’s a simple process. You need to start by scavenging for materials, building a floating contraption of some sort, piling your worldly possessions into that contrivance and setting out for Florida. Along the way, you must evade the Cuban Coast Guard, who will imprison you for Read More

If the secret to economic prosperity was the erection of Che Guevara murals, Cuba would be the wealthiest nation on Earth. Unfortunately, revolutions are meant as transitions between an inferior form of government, and one that is supposed to be better. Revolution itself isn’t a form of government and socialist sloganeering only takes you so far. In the end, you need to produce things Read More